Equipment
Ben Hogan launches Equalizer Black wedges featuring Diamond Black Metal finish, added loft options
One year after launching the Equalizer wedge line, Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company has unveiled a full-line of Equalizer black wedges.
The equaliser black wedges feature a Diamond Black Metal finish which aims to reduce glare and provide for greater contrast with the golf ball. According to the company, the Diamond Black Metal finish is seven times more durable than nickel chrome.
Speaking on the addition of the Equalizer black wedges, Scott White, President and CEO, Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company said
“Quite honestly, we were taken aback by the demand for the limited-edition Equalizer BLACK wedges we offered in 3-club sets last year. Serious, accomplished golfers were frustrated that we were only offering them in 52, 56 and 60-degree lofts.
“Given our factory-direct business model, we were able to receive and react to this feedback quickly. Now, golfers can choose from three different gap wedges, three different sand wedges, and two lob wedges with either our traditional nickel chrome or Diamond Black Metal finish.”
The loft options for the Equalizer black gap wedge are 48, 50 and 52 degrees, sand wedge 54, 56 and 58 degrees and Lob Wedge 60 and 62 degrees.
The new additions from Ben Hogan start at $105, and speaking on the price point, White stated
“To be able to offer a wedge of this quality at or around $100, thanks to our direct-to-consumer business model, allows us to provide golfers with the very best performing product at an extremely attractive price point.”
The Equalizer wedges are available for demo or purchase at www.BenHoganGolf.com exclusively.
Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D LS (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 TX
Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3), TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7TW (5-PW)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 10 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold X100
Wedges: TaylorMade Prototype (50-SB09), TaylorMade MG5 (56-HB12, 60-LV07)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S400
Putter: TaylorMade TP Juno
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
Check out more in-hand photos of Christiaan Maas’ clubs here.
TaylorMade Golf’s MySpider program underwent a substantial overhaul over the last month. Firstly, the company launched the option to customize the Spider ZT model, and now the program has returned with the MySpider Tour and MySpider Tour X.
The revamped page now gives golfers complete control over every visual and functional detail of their putter on the popular Tour and Tour X head, with every cosmetic idea thought of. In MySpider Tour, golfers can choose from four head finishes, 16 paint fill colors, nine Surlyn face insert colors, three aluminum insert options, six sightline configurations, and four hosel options — L-neck, small slant, double bend, center shaft. Six sightline options are available in MySpider Tour, including the optically engineered True Path alignment system. MySpider Tour X gives builders the option of four head finishes, four hosel configurations, and five sightline options, also including True Path alignment.
One of the more interesting features of the new MySpider program is the availability of three distinct face insert options. Along with the usual Surlyn Pure Roll insert trusted by Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, which can be customized from nine colors, golfers can now also select firmer options. Two are offered with the black aluminum Pure Roll insert, slightly firmer than the traditional insert, or for the firmest feel, golfers can choose from two colors of milled aluminum inserts.
Another fun addition to the MySpider Tour is the ability to use the “Tommy Sightline.” The custom alignment aid design, which was first drawn onto Tommy Fleetwood’s putter by PGA Tour Rep James Holley, is based on the milled sightline on his Spider ZT head. There are five shorter lines on the left and right of a longer central line serving as the traditional short line alignment aid.
See below for the full specifications sheet for MySpider Tour and Tour X:
MySpider Tour
MySpider Tour X
Equipment
Then and now: Comparing Rory McIlroy’s current setup to his record-breaking 2019 Canadian Open victory
In Rory McIlroy’s first appearance at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open, he crushed the record books to earn his 16th PGA Tour title in dominating fashion, winning by seven shots over Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson.
McIlroy’s score of 22-under-par 258 is the lowest 72-hole score to date at the Canadian Open, and his closing 61 is also the best final-round score in the history of one of golf’s oldest tournaments. Finally, with his win in 2019, McIlroy became only the sixth player to win the career Triple Crown, adding to his victories at the U.S. Open in 2011 and The Open Championship in 2014, joining Tommy Armour, Walter Hagen, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Tiger Woods in a coveted list.
So, with that, why not compare his current setup to the clubs he used to break all the records?
Driver
2019: TaylorMade M5 (9 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees @8), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7X (45 5/8 inches)
McIroy led the Tour in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in 2019; he’s doing the same in 2026. Between now and then, McIlroy has switched from the Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX (a shaft with slightly more feeling in the tip) to the original Fujikura Ventus Black 7X, having just made the change to the heavier version from playing the 60X.
What’s interesting about McIlroy’s 2019 setup is that the weighting on his driver is actually set in the high-draw setting, using the T-Track weighting system, whereas in the Qi4D, he’s currently using a heavily rear-weighted setup. (Two 13-gram weights in the rear and only two 4-gram front weights.)
The TaylorMade M5 driver he played in during his Canadian Open win was the company’s first head that they claimed to design to initially exceed the USGA’s COR limit, and then injected with tuning resin to bring it back in bounds.
Fairway woods
2019: TaylorMade M6 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX; TaylorMade M5 5-wood (19 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 90 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8X; TaylorMade Qi4D 5-wood (18 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9X
The TaylorMade M6 fairway wood that McIlroy was using during the 2019 season is still in the bag of some of the best golfers on Tour in 2026. Just check out Justin Rose’s winning setup from the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year. This year, though, McIlroy has still been searching for his top-end-of-the-bag setup, having played both the new Qi4D and the Qi10, which he won the Masters with.
The same shaft swap can be seen in the fairway woods as the driver, along with slightly less loft on the 5-wood.
Irons
2019: TaylorMade P750 (4) Buy here, TaylorMade P730 (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0
2026: TaylorMade P760 (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0
The biggest difference between McIlroy’s custom set and the stock P730s is the groove design. While the P730s were constructed with 14 MX-9 grooves on their milled faces, McIlroy’s proto heads instead use the higher-spinning, 16-groove layout of the TW2 grooves. Other big differences between the sets are that McIlroy’s 7- and 8-irons have thinner toplines, are 1 degree stronger in loft, and are 1/4 inch longer than the original P730 builds.
With McIlroy’s 4-iron, the switch from P750 to P760 sees a transition to a two-piece construction with Speed Foam in it, which allows McIlroy to launch the ball slightly higher, with more workability.
Wedges
2019: TaylorMade Milled Grind (48-09SB), TaylorMade MG Hi-Toe (52-09SB, 56-09SB, 60-LB09), Shafts: Project X Rifle 6.5
2026: TaylorMade MG5 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB, 60-08LB @61), Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)
Between 2019 and 2026, McIlroy’s focus on his short game has been much more apparent. It was the reason why he switched back to the TP5 golf ball, to help with launch, spin and control with his wedges leading up to his career Grand Slam victory in 2025. The most apparent changes to McIlroy’s wedge setup are his lofts and bounce. He’s slowly delofted his pitching to a sand wedge, but has increased the loft on the lob wedge, bending his current 60-degree to 61. With that, adding more loft to his lob wedge also slightly increases the bounce and leading-edge sit point, so, as a result, he plays a lower-bounce lob wedge compared to 2019. The MG5 wedges are also softer than the first Milled Grind option from 2019. McIlroy also no longer plays the full-face grooves found on the Hi-Toe.
Putter
2019: TaylorMade Spider X
2026: TaylorMade Spider Tour X
Notice anything similar. Yes, the copper finish on Rory McIlroy’s Spider X putter in 2019 is a slightly more reflective finish than the recently released torched PVD finish. McIlroy was using the True Path alignment system, but now uses only a single white sightline.
Ball
2019: 2019 TaylorMade TP5 (#22)
2026: 2025 TaylorMade TP5 (RORS)
As mentioned above, McIlroy had transitioned from the TP5 to TP5x golf ball since his victory in Canada in 2019, but now is black with the same style of golf ball as his victory at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.
Grips
2019: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
2026: Golf Pride MCC
Interesting, McIlroy actually used Golf Pride’s Tour Velvet Cord grips during his victory in 2019 (it was during a 2+ year switch to the corded TV) as opposed to his usual MCC grips, which he has played for most of his career.
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Steve Buchanan
Mar 6, 2019 at 2:19 pm
I played, in retro order, Mizuno, Taylor Made Blades, Callaway and Ping. These are all fine clubs. In fact, it is HARD to buy bad clubs today if you are buying one of the premium brands. My first set of matched irons as a teen was Hogan, 1958 model, which I bought used many years after they were made.
Last summer, I bought a set of PTX irons and the Equalizer wedges to complement the set. They are beautiful, and have the performance of any of my previous sets, from Eye 2 to Mizuno.
Hogan is for the player who has some knowledge of what he/she needs in a club, and one who knows their basic information such as swing speed, and what type of ball flight is preferred and can choose their own shaft.
But outside of that, quality is not an issue. They just cut out all the ancillary costs of retail, so they offer a premium brand at a reduced cost. If you fit the criteria above, then you can save at least a third of the cost that is offered at your superstore or club fitting.
Mike Cleland
Mar 6, 2019 at 12:11 pm
They look great!
Ray K
Mar 6, 2019 at 10:22 am
Doesn’t Callaway own Ben Hogan Golf Clubs and aren’t they the ones manufacturing and selling the current line of Ben Hogan golf clubs?
Jeff Martin
Mar 6, 2019 at 1:51 pm
Callaway bough Ben Hogan brand back in the early 2000’s. They continued making BH clubs until around 2006 (?) and then shelved the brand. They did continue to use the model names such as the APEX. Today’s Ben Hogan Golf bought the rights to the name from Callaway and now make BH branded clubs. (Note: This is just the quick and dirty on the BH story).
Tom
Mar 5, 2019 at 7:12 pm
Gianni is a brute!!!
Chris Walton
Mar 5, 2019 at 12:39 pm
Both the wedges and Ft. Worth irons are fantastic.
Great look and feel with exceptional quality.
I’ve played Mizuno and Ping primarily for the past 20 + years and the Hogan’s are equal or better in every aspect.
Some of the comments above are idiotic at best…however, they are entitled to their opinion.
Matt
Mar 5, 2019 at 11:54 am
I admit that the odd diamond pattern on the back makes them look cheaper, I’d rather have a clean finish on them. However, the Hogan products are premier products and DLC is one of the better black finishes.
I’ve tested out the original FTW 15 31° and 43° irons and they feel and fly great.
Disclosure – I’m an old Hogan fan and own, ’72, ’79, ’88 Apex models and ’81 Directors.
Fr
Mar 5, 2019 at 9:42 pm
You’re too fricking old to be here, haven’t you grown up yet sheesh man
FM
Mar 5, 2019 at 11:40 am
Gawd, their ugly.
Craigie73
Mar 5, 2019 at 3:30 pm
If all that stamping was taken off and all that was left was the Hogan signature they would look 100 times better. They’re just far too busy looking
Pf
Mar 5, 2019 at 9:23 am
$50 for the pair at your local Kmart
Travis
Mar 5, 2019 at 8:57 am
I know this is not their intent, but this company has made the Ben Hogan name synonymous with “cheap”. The Hogan name should be on premier products, not direct-to-consumer garbage. It’s a shame.
Justin
Mar 5, 2019 at 9:38 am
I don’t understand how direct to consumer makes a product cheap. The Ft Worth irons are some of the highest quality irons I have ever hit and I have played Mizuno blades for years. I am not sure you have any idea what you are talking about.
dr. bloor
Mar 5, 2019 at 5:06 pm
NARRATOR: He didn’t.